Step three is to mask the nose and tail and repaint it. The color is not clear-doped linen but rather a darker yellow paint the French were experimenting with at the time.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psxvntsz3s.jpg

Some of the old decal lifted from the elevators. Easy enough to fix later.

How do you do the rigging? Is it heated sprue or fish line, or thread? Is each section done seperate or is it strung? Looks really good! :up:

Thanks.

It's akin to fishing line, but purchased at a fabric store. I think the diameter is .003, and I bought one roll of 300 yards so many years ago I've forgotten the time-frame. I don't think I've used half of it, so it should last the rest of my life. If not, the stuff is still dirt cheap.

Every plane is different, depending on how the original was done, but most of it is strung from a single piece, as long as I can make it. In this case the lower attachments were to the wing roots. so I drilled two tiny holes on each side. Starting with the forward root it runs to the top of the forward inner strut. From there it goes aft to the bottom of the after strut, then to the top of the outer aft strut, forward to the bottom of the outer front strut, then inward to the top of the inner forward strut again. There's nowhere to go from there, so I tie that one off, glue and cut it. Next the procedure is reversed from the rear fuselage hole. Once both wings were done that way I attached the opposite inside wires, tying it to the front bottom strut first, then up to the top of the cabane and down the other side, then doing the rear in the same way. There is a line which runs from the forward landing gear brace to the top of the aft inner strut and keeps the wings anchored laterally. I started at the strut and ran it to the landing gear brace, then across and down the front and back up the rear to make the landing gear wires.

My next project will be a pusher. They have a lot of rigging. :dead:

Yes.

Cowling and crew repainted, edging applied.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...pstssxb3ju.jpg

Well, I ran into a bit of a snag, so I'll be switching gears for a few days.

The snag was that I didn't have any French roundels of the correct size for the upper wing. The two options were to order some and wait for them to arrive or to print my own. I made three attempts at printing them and still couldn't get them quite right. I finally gave up and ordered some, and they aren't expected to arrive until the 16th.

While I'm waiting I'll be starting my next real building project, another F.E.2b. It's an old FormaPlane vac kit. I bought two of them at the same time, meaning to build an early one and a later version. The early one was finished a couple of decades ago and the other one has been sitting in various closets ever since, waiting for me to get to it. Now I'm caught up and it's ready to start. The instructions and metal parts are long since gone, but the kit itself is one of the finest of its kind. Just beautiful.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psafyloocx.jpg

Fe.2b body parts cut out and ready for sanding. Lots of sanding.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ps5aeogwex.jpg

Interior partly assembled.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ps61ofg2tl.jpg

Interior painted except for some detail work. The engine sits in a rather exposed place so I thought it needed some detailing. Unfortunately I've had the kit for so long that if it ever had metal parts they are long since gone, probably used for something else. The kit includes some fairly nice parts in plastic, but the cylinder block is rather small and in two halves. Some cutting and very careful sanding and they looked okay. I glued them to the base and sanded and glued the cylinder head piece to the top. Everything else is fabricated from what I had on hand.

Port side of the 160-horspower Beardmore. the valve rods (if you can see them) are .008 guitar string, about 1/16-inch long. The fuel line is .020 brass wire.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psawn6ztfs.jpg


Starboard side. The exhaust collector is a thin piece of plastic rod and the oil tank is a thicker piece of sprue.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psoh3e0jut.jpg

Fuselage assembled. Needs some cleanup before I start on the lower wings.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psv0k92jft.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psjhu85ayp.jpg

My new French decal sheet came today, so it's back to the Nieuport. Still needs some touching up.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ps0y4maka9.jpg

Very old Nieuport 10 refinished:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psypp2fwpd.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psctffy8rv.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...pspudneiyv.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psv0r4i6qv.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psxzrd9o9d.jpg

Back to the FE.2b: Lower wings cut, sanded and mounted.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ps7nuetv3z.jpg

What's up slacker? Just kidding! :D I almost bought an Airfix R.E.8 the other day, might have to go back and pick it up since all models were 50% off. Of course I'd need $50 worth of stuff to finish it, my Humbrol is long gone.

I am a slacker. I have been busy, but it's been more than three weeks since I touched it. Part of it is that I have been very busy, but part of it also that I keep putting off sanding the wings and tailplanes. I'm not sure what comes next.

As for the R.E.8, if you want to build a truly accurate and beautiful model I would recommend the Chorozy Modelbud version. It's available on eBay, but you can get it cheaper from Jadar Models in Poland. Several of my favorites have come from them.
http://www.jadarhobby.pl/choroszy-a0...2-p-28780.html

After five weeks of doing other things I finally got started again. Unfortunately there's nothing to show. I spent an hour just sanding the upper wing, and it's still got a way to go.

I can empathize having just sharpened six mower blades. :D Looking forward to more dope stuff. :yeah:

Pics or it didn't happen. :O:




Oh, wait... :oops:


I'll thank you to leave my personal life out of this. :stare: :p2:

All the flying surfaces are sanded down and ready for assembly. With a normal biplane it's easier to assemble everything but leave the top wing off until it's painted. With a pusher the top wing has to be mounted before the rear frame can be assembled and the tailplanes mounted, so painting has to come last.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psnjwn3rvp.jpg